The Road To Monetary Union

The French Road to the European Monetary Union

The logic behind European monetary cooperation and integration can only be understood through an examination of French efforts to maximise their monetary power in relation to Germany and America. This book provides a detailed and historically-informed study of the motives and economic and political attitudes that shaped French policy on European developments over a thirty year period, from the collapse of the International Monetary System in the late 1960s and early 1970s through to the start of EMU on 1 January 1999.

The Road To Maastricht

The Road to Monetary Union

The Road to Monetary Union analyses in non-technical language the process leading to adoption of a common currency for the European Union. The monetary union process involved different issues at different times and the contemporary global background mattered. The Element explains why monetary union was attempted and failed in the 1970s, and why the process was restarted in 1979, accelerated after 1992 and completed for a core group of EU members in 1999. It analyzes connections between eurozone membership and Greece's sovereign debt crisis. It concludes with analysis of how the eurozone works today and with discussion of its prospects for the 2020s. The approach is primarily economic, while acknowledging the role of politics (timing) and history (path dependence). A theme is to challenge simplistic ideas (e.g. that the euro has failed) with fuller analysis of competing pressures to shape the nature of monetary union.